Gem: Tourmaline
Weight: 21.3 ct.
Dimensions: 25 x 11.1 x 9.3 mm
Clarity: I1 / I2
Origin: Mt. Mica, Paris, Maine - circa 2007
Treatments: None, natural gem / crystal
Faceted by: Scott Maier
Comments:
Hybrid faceting was a bit of a side project for me for a couple of years near the beginning of my career. Some crystals just have SUCH personality that they can be faceted, while leaving important features and portions of the gem natural - for instance - striations as a table, or a cool crystal termination that can be left, while the rest of the gem is faceted.
THIS piece is the largest, and one of the most interesting gems I did this way. The termination is hoppered, and feathered, with a few sections of cats eye here and there. It's darker -- nearly black in low light - but the base of the crystal, which is coompletely faceted except for the table, is quite bright and gemmy, and is an extraordinary forest green color, which Mount Mica is known for producing.
The table of this gem is a great lightly striated, and lightly etched texture, that is still quite lustrous, and easy to see through.
Theres lots of inclusions, but the color, size and bright gemminess are all more than enough to make up for that.
This object d'art can sit proudly in a USA mineral and gem collection, or a collection of oddities, or if you like it can easily be made into a piece of jewelry, because it's got a defined and even shape. It'll sit in a custom long octagon setting like any other cut-corner rectangle.